Cenozoic paleo-environmental evolution of the Pamir–Tien Shan convergence zone

The retreat of the Tethys Sea and the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau play the critical roles in driving Asian climatic changes during the Cenozoic. In the Pamir–Tien Shan convergence zone, over 3000 m of Cenozoic successions, consisting of marine deposits in the lower, continental clay and fine sand in the middle, and molasse in the upper part, record the evolution of the Tethys Sea, the Asian aridification, and the deformation of the Pamir. In this work, the existing biostratigraphic subdivisions and new electronic spinning resonance dating results were used to assign ages to formations within the Ulugqat section. Sedimentary facies analysis and multi-proxy indices were used to reconstruct the paleo-environmental evolution. The results show: (1) the Pamir–Tien Shan convergence zone has undergone progressive environmental changes from shallow marine before ∼34 Ma to arid land at ∼23 Ma and finally to inter-mountain basin by ∼5.3 Ma; (2) the overall increase in mean size of grains, decrease in redness, in magnetic susceptibility, and in proportion of the ultrafine component of the sediments studied revealed a long-term strengthening in potential energy to transporting medium, cooling, and enhanced continental aridity, respectively; (3) the easternmost edge of the Tethys Sea prevailed in the western Tarim Basin from late Cretaceous to early Cenozoic, and finally retreated from this region around the Eocene–Oligocene transition, which in turn strengthened the Asian aridification; (4) accumulation of molasse with an upper age of ∼1 Ma suggests that the deformation front of the Pamir migrated to this area at or before that time.     

Alpine tectonics of granites in basement of Ysyk-Köl Basin,northern Tien Shan

The Ysyk-Köl Basin filled with Lower Jurassic–Quaternary sedimentary rocks is the largest intermontane negative structural unit of the northern Tien Shan. The basement of this basin is composed of Precambrian–Paleozoic rocks, largely of Ordovician and Silurian granitoids exposed in mountain ranges of the basin framework and as separate anticlinal domes situated in areas occupied by the Mesozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary cover. The postmagmatic tectonic internalstructure of the Chonkurchak (Chunkurchak), Kyzyl-Choku, Kyzyl-Bulak, and Prishib massifs emplaced in the basement, as well as their relationships to the sedimentary cover, are described in the paper. The study was carried out using the morphostructural method, detailed geological mapping, structural kinematic analysis, and petrographic examination of rocks. The internalstructure of Paleozoic granites in the basement and indications of their 3D tectonic flow are characterized. It is shown that granites underwent 3D deformation after their emplacement in the consolidated crust, and this process had a substantial influence on tectonic processes at the plate and orogenic stages of regional evolution.     

Zones of the origin of seismic centers in the Pamir–Tien Shan sector of High Asia

The zones of the origin of seismic centers within highly seismic areas of the Pamirs and Tien Shan are established. The majority of catastrophic earthquakes coincide with them in this part of High Asia. Their establishment is based on the distribution of the most intensive epicenters and the maximal volumes of the seismic energy together with its calculation and forecasting of the possible manifestations of high seismicity. The investigation of the deep structure of these zones allows us to determine the connection of the seismicity with geophysical field anomalies and some factors of the deep and near surface lithosphere and crust structure, which influence the present-day geodynamics. The results of our research enable us to appreciate the level of the seismic danger in different parts of the region investigated.     

Underthrusting of Tarim beneath the Tien Shan and deep structure of their junction zone: Main results of seismic experiment along MANAS Profile Kashgar-Song-Köl

The results of reflection CMP seismic profiling of the Central Tien Shan in the meridional tract 75–76° E from Lake Song-Köl in Kyrgyzstan to the town of Kashgar in China are considered. The seismic section demonstrating complex heterogeneous structure of the Earth’s crust and reflecting its near-horizontal delamination with vertical and inclined zones of compositional and structural differentiation was constructed from processing of initial data of reflection CMP seismic profiling, earthquake converted-wave method (ECWM), and seismic tomography. The most important is the large zone of underthrusting of the Tarim Massif beneath the Tien Shan.     

Geology,mineralization, and fluid inclusion characteristics of the Chorukh-Dairon W–Mo–Cu skarn deposit in the Middle Tien Shan,Northern Tajikistan

The Chorukh-Dairon deposit is part of the metallogenic belt of WMo, CuMo, AuW, and Au deposits along the Late Paleozoic active continental margin of the Tien Shan. It is related to the Late Carboniferous multiphase pluton, with successive intrusive phases of early monzogabbro through monzonite-quartz monzonite to monzogranite and leucogranite, and the latest lamprophyre dikes. The deposit is an example of complex W–Mo–Cu magmatic-hydrothermal system related to magnetite-series shoshonitic igneous suite. It contains zones of W–Cu–Mo oxidized prograde and retrograde skarns, with abundant scapolite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, andradite garnet, magnetite, as well as molybdoscheelite and minor chalcopyrite, and molybdenite. Skarns are overprinted by hydrosilicate alteration assemblages, with amphibole, chlorite, epidote, quartz, calcite, scapolite, albite, scheelite, and chalcopyrite, and are cut by quartz-carbonate-barite-fluorite-sulfide veins.The fluid evolution included a release of high temperature (~ 400–500 °C), high pressure (900–1100 to 700–800 bars), high salinity magmatic-hydrothermal aqueous chloride fluid, with its direct separation from crystallizing magma and formation of prograde and retrograde skarns. Fluid enrichment in Ca (up to 15–22 wt.% CaCl₂) at the retrograde skarn stage was possibly related to magmatic differentiation and provided intense molybdoscheelite deposition from a homogenous fluid. In contrast, hydrosilicate alteration assemblages were formed at lower temperatures (~ 350–400 °C) initially from a homogenous and then from a boiling Ca-rich (20–22 wt.% CaCl₂) magmatic-hydrothermal fluid, with the latter contributing to the most intense scheelite deposition. The stable isotope data (δ¹³C_CO2 = − 3.0 ± 0.5‰ and δ¹⁸О_H2O = + 6.5 ± 0.5‰, δ³⁴S = + 7.5 to + 7.7‰) obtained for the hydrosilicate stage minerals suggest significant fluid sourcing from magmatic and meteoric waters as well as from sedimentary rocks enriched in seawater sulfate, possibly evaporites, although a strongly homogenous character of the isotopic composition reveals intense isotope homogenization in a magmatic chamber. Some light sulfur isotope enrichment of sulfides from the quartz-carbonate-barite-fluorite-sulfide veins (δ³⁴S = + 6.0 to + 6.1‰) may be linked to the evolution of the magmatic source toward more mantle-related sulfur species, as these veins were formed after emplacement of the late mafic (lamprophyre) dikes.     

The Muruntau gold deposit(Uzbekistan)——A unique ancient hydrothermal system in the southern Tien Shan

The Muruntau gold deposit in the Central Kyzylkum,Uzbekistan is one of the largest single gold deposits worldwide.Data available from the literature are reviewed with the aim to(1) integrate the present knowledge on this unique deposit from Russian and English literature;(2) show the considerable progress made in the understanding of the genesis of the Muruntau deposit during the last decades;and(3) point to problems still open for future research.Deposit formation occurred through a multi-stage process involving sedimentation,regional metamorphism including thrusting,magmatism with formation of hornfels aureoles and several stages of hydrothermal activity.According to recent knowledge,synsedimentary or pure metamorphic formation of gold mineralization seems unlikely.The role of granite magmatism occurring roughly within the same time interval as the main hydrothermal gold precipitation remains uncertain.There are no signs of interaction of matter between the magma(s) and the hydrothermal system(s).On the other hand,there was an intense,high-temperature(above 400 ℃)fluid- wall rock interaction resulting in the formation of gold-bearing,cone-like stockworks with veins,veinlets and gold-bearing metasomatites.Several chemical and isotope indicators hint at an involvement of lower-crustal or mantle-related sources as well as of surface waters in ore formation.Deposit formation through brecciation involving explosion,hydrothermal or tectonic breccias might explain these data.Further investigations on breccia formation as well as on the exact timing of relevant sedimentary,metamorphic,magmatic and hydrothermal events are recommended.     

Stress State of the Earth’s Crust in the Western Tien Shan in Central Asia (Uzbekistan): A Mathematical Stress Model

Geotectonics - Seismic and tectonic processes were analyzed, taking into account the dimensions of tectonic structures and geological factors that determine the features of the relationship between...     

The Shishugou Fauna of the Middle–Late Jurassic Transition Period in the Junggar Basin of Western China

The Middle–Late Jurassic transition period is a critical period for the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates, but the global fossil record from this time is relatively poor. The Shishugou Fauna of this period has recently produced significant fossil remains of dinosaurs and other vertebrate groups, some representing the earliest known members of several dinosaurian groups and other vertebrate groups and some representing the best-known specimens of their group. These discoveries are significant for our understanding of the origin and evolution of several vertebrate lineages. Radiometric dating indicates that the fauna is aged approximately 159–164 Ma. Comparisons with other similarly-aged terrestrial faunas such as Shaximiao and Yanliao show both taxonomic similarities and differences between these faunas and indicate that the Junggar deposits might have preserved the most complete vertebrate fossil record for a Middle–Late Jurassic Laurasian terrestrial fauna.     

The Background Features and Formation of Chemical Elements of Groundwater in the Region of the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

The paper deals with the background features, formation and distribution of the chemical el-ements K, Na, Ca, Mg, Si, Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni,V, Co, Ti, Mo, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Hg, Cd, Be, Li, Sr, B,F, Cl, Br and I in the groundwater in the region of the middle and lower reaches of the YangtzeRiver and their relations to the composition of the water-bearing media, properties of the overly-ing rocks and soils, redox environment, and groundwater flow condition, mineralization and pHof groundwater.     

Life in the sublittoral zone of long-lived Lake Pannon: paleontological analysis of the Upper Miocene Szák Formation,Hungary

Life and depositional environments in the sublittoral zone of Lake Pannon, a large, brackish Paratethyan lake from the Late Miocene, were reconstructed from fossils and facies of the Szák Formation. This formation is exposed in several, roughly coeval (9.4–8.9 Ma) outcrops, located along strike of the paleo-shelf-break in northwestern Hungary. The silty argillaceous marl of the formation was deposited below storm wave base, at 20–30 to 80–90 m water depth. The abundance of benthic organisms indicates that the bottom water was usually well oxygenated. Interstitial dysoxia, however, may have occurred immediately below the sediment–water interface, as evidenced by occasional preservation of trace fossils such as Diplocraterion. The fauna comprised endemic mollusks, including brackish cockles of the subfamily Lymnocardiinae, dreissenid mussels (Congeria), and highly adapted, uniquely large-sized deep-water pulmonate snails (planorbids and lymnaeids). Ostracods were dominated by endemic species and, in some cases, endemic genera of candonids, leptocytherids, cypridids, and loxoconchids. Fish remnants include a sciaenid otolith and the oldest skeletal occurrence of Perca in Europe. The phytoplankton comprised exclusively endemic coccolithophorids, mostly endemic dinoflagellates (prevailingly Spiniferites), and cosmopolitan green algae. The Late Miocene fauna and flora of Lake Pannon were in many ways similar to the modern Caspian biota, and in particular cases can be regarded as its precursor.     

The Middle Devonian Bimodal Association of Volcanic Rocks in the Northern Area of East Junggar, Xinjiang

The Middle Devonian volcanic rocks in the northern area of East Junggar, located between the Ertix andUlungur rivers of northern Xinjiang, may be divided into basic and acid ones. It is evident that a compositionalgap exists between the two groups so that the volcanic rocks are not in line with a calc-alkaline series becausethe intermediate rocks are absent in the area. The fact shows that the volcanic rocks are a typical bimodal asso-ciation. The formation of the bimodal association of volcanic rocks in the area was closely related to continen-tal rifting or continental extension in the Middle Devonian. In such a tectonic setting, magmas were first pro-duced by partial melting of the mantle. Where crustal thinning was greater, the magmas ascended and eruptedon the surface directly so that the basic volcanic rocks formed, but olivine and/or partial pyroxenefractionation occurred in the magmas during their ascent through the thinning crust. On the other hand, wherecrustal thinning was less, ascending mantle-derived magmas reached the lower crust and accumulated there, re-sulting in partial melting of the lower crust and thus giving rise to the contaminated magma which was consoli-dated as acid volcanic rocks on the surface.     

A Middle Paleozoic shear zone in the Sierra de Valle Fértil,Argentina: Records of a continent-arc collision in the Famatinian margin of Gondwana

Geological, petrological and structural observations were obtained along a 30-km-long traverse across a segment of the Valle Fértil shear zone, central-western Argentina. On a regional scale, the shear zone appears as numerous discontinues belts over 25 km in width and is approximately 140 km in length, extended on the western section of the Sierras Valle Fértil – La Huerta mountain range. The steeply dipping shear zone with a vertical mylonitic lineation is composed of amphibolite facies ribbon mylonites and amphibolite to greenschist facies ultramylonites derived from Early Ordovician plutonic and metasedimentary parent rocks. Locally, syn-kinematic retrogression of mylonites formed greenschist facies phyllonites. During the later stages of deformation, unstrained parent rocks, mylonites, ultramylonites and phyllonites were affected by pervasive cataclasis under low greenschist facies conditions associated with localized faulting. One new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age on biotite and published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages on amphibole in the shear zone yield an average cooling rate of 6.2 °C/Ma for a time period that crosses the Silurian–Devonian boundary. Since in metasedimentary rocks the youngest zircon's rims dated at 465 Ma marks the beginning of cooling, nearly continuous uplift of rocks within the shear zone occurred over a minimum time span of 55 Ma. During the period of active deformation, dip-slip movement can explain uplift of several kilometers of the Early Ordovician arc crust. The Valle Fértil shear zone, which was formed near above the inferred suture zone between the Famatinian arc and Cuyania microcontinent, is a major structural boundary nucleated within the Early Ordovician crust. The simplest geodynamic model to explain the evolution of the Valle Fértil shear zone involves the collision of the composite Cuyania/Precodillera microcontinent against the Famatinian arc.     

Dynamics of seismogenerating structures in the frontal zone of the Kolyma–Omolon superterrane

To develop a model for the dynamics of seismogenerating structures in the frontal zone of the Kolyma–Omolon superterrane (Chersky seismotectonic zone), the following aspects are analyzed: structural–tectonic position, deep structure parameters, active faults, and fields of tectonic stresses as revealed from solutions of focal mechanisms of strong earthquakes and kinematic types of Late Cenozoic fold deformations and faults. It is found that a certain dynamic setting under transpressional conditions takes place and it was caused by the interaction between structures of the Eurasian, North American, and Okhotsk lithospheric plates within regional segments of the Chersky zone (Yana–Indigirka and Indigirka–Kolyma). These conditions are possible if the Kolyma–Omolon block located in the frontal zone of the North American Plate was an indenter. Due to this, some terranes of different geodynamic origin underwent horizontal shortening, under which particular blocks of segments were pushed out laterally along the orogenic belt, on a system of conjugated strike-slip faults of different directions and hierarchical series, in the northwest and southeast directions, respectively, to form the main seismogenerating reverse-fault and thrust structures with the maximum seismic potential (M ≥ 6.5).     

Gas–oil fluids in the formation of travertines in the Baikal rift zone

Active participation of gas–oil fluids in the processes of mineral formation and petrogenesis in travertines of the Arshan and Garga hot springs is substantiated. The parageneses of the products of pyrolytic decomposition and oxidation of the gas–oil components of hydrothermal fluids (amorphous bitumen, graphite-like CM, and graphite) with different genetic groups of minerals crystallized in a wide range of P–T conditions were established. Travertines of the Baikal rift zone were formed from multicomponent hydrous–gas–oil fluids by the following basic mechanisms of mineral formation: chemogenic, biogenic, cavitation, fluid pyrometamorphism, and pyrolysis.     

Forecasting of technogenic placer dynamics in the shore zone of the sea on the basis of numerical modeling: The case of the Val’kumei deposit

As natural placer and primary ore deposits are exhausted, the role of technogenic deposits is increasingly growing. In some cases, technogenic components accumulate in the shore zone of the shelf. The proposed numerical dynamic model is based on data concerning the technogenic tin deposit formed as a product of 50 years of operations at the Val’kumei Mining and Concentrating Combine, which disposed of tin ore flotation tailings in the coastal zone of the Chaun Gulf of the East Siberian Sea. The developed model describes adequately the current placer dynamics and forecasts a change in the morphology and geochemical parameters of a technogenic fan, opening the way to modeling behavior of natural geochemical anomalies in the coastal zone under conditions of active lithodynamics.     

The ductile shear zone in granitoid of the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex,Turkey: Implications for the origins of the Tuzgölü basin during the Late Cretaceous extensional deformation

The Emizözü shear zone is the west–northwest-trending ductile shear zone within the A?açören granitoid in central Turkey. Deformation that affected the granitoid along the Emizözü shear zone resulted in mylonites with mylonitic foliation and stretching lineation. The textural features of the deformed minerals suggest that mylonitization occurred under conditions of upper greenschist facies. The shear indicators, including asymmetric porphyroclasts, oblique foliation, and shear bands, suggest a down-dip (top-to-the-southwest) displacement. The orientation of stretching lineation, as well as kinematic indicators, indicates the extensional character of the Emizözü shear zone. Although it is not precisely dated, the available age constraints suggest that the zone formed at 78–71 Ma. According to field and micro-structural data, the A?açören granitoid was most likely emplaced during a regional deformation in central Turkey, and synchronously or shortly after was overprinted by the extensional Emizözü shear zone. The zone can also be correlated with the earlier stage development of the Tuzgölü basin in central Turkey.     

The feature and tectonic setting of Dongqiao podiform chromitite in the central segment of the Bangong Lake-Nujiang suture zone in TibetSCIEI北大核心CSCD

早侏罗世东巧蛇绿岩位于班公湖-怒江缝合带(班怒带)东段,蕴含较为丰富的豆荚状铬铁矿资源。东巧地幔橄榄岩主体由方辉橄榄岩组成,铬铁矿赋存在其内部的纯橄岩脉中。方辉橄榄岩和纯橄岩均显示出弧前橄榄岩的特征。方辉橄榄岩中橄榄石的Fo值为89.8~92.2,斜方辉石的和单斜辉石的Mg^(#)值分别变化于89.7~92.0和92.7~95.1,铬尖晶石的Cr^(#)值(Cr^(#)=100×Cr/(Cr+Al))为60.8~75.9;纯橄岩中橄榄石的Fo值为91.7~92.5,斜方辉石Mg^(#)值变化于91.7~92.1,单斜辉石的Mg^(#)值变化于94.0~94.6,铬尖晶石的Cr^(#)值为69.0~83.1。铬铁矿主要呈致密块状和浸染状构造,其中铬尖晶石的矿物包裹体有橄榄石、斜方辉石、单斜辉石、角闪石和铂族矿物等。矿石中的铬尖晶石与橄榄岩中的铬尖晶石相比,具有较高的Cr^(#)值(72.5~86.9)和Mg^(#)值(52.8~70.5),较低的Al_(2)O_(3)(6.25%~13.6%)、TiO_(2)(0.06%~0.16%)和Zn(518×10^(-6)~714×10^(-6)),属于高铬型铬铁矿,平衡熔体与玻安质熔体有亲缘性。方辉橄榄岩中铂族元素(PGE)总含量(14.01×10^(-9)~32.81×10^(-9))近似于原始地幔,IPGE(Os、Ir和Ru)/PPGE(Rh、Pt和Pd)的比值均大于1;纯橄岩的PGE总量(13.36×10^(-9)~16.08×10^(-9))略低于原始地幔,IPGE和PPGE富集程度近似;铬铁矿的铂族元素总量(108.4×10^(-9)~645.7×10^(-9))远远高于原始地幔和地幔橄榄岩中PGE的含量,且IPGE以及Rh相对原始地幔富集,而Pt和Pd相对亏损,具明显右倾特征的配分模式,指示东巧地幔橄榄岩和铬铁矿形成过程经历了熔体抽取和交代作用。通过与全球典型豆荚状铬铁矿矿床的特征对比,认为班怒带的蛇绿岩应该有良好的铬铁矿成矿背景。     

Results of Modeling Sources of Magnetic Anomalies in the Earth’s Crust in the Middle Urals

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of studying the structural features of an anomalous magnetic field and modeling sources in the Earth’s crust of the Middle Ural region are presented. A...